Outside Money Becoming Fixture

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Wealthy out-of-state special interests continued to flood Wisconsin with millions of dollars in contributions in 2013 – a trend that began a few years earlier with unprecedented recall elections that drew national attention from big-money donors.
Outside Money Becoming Fixture

Walker, partisan divide fueled out-of-state contributions in 2013

July 8, 2014

Madison – Wealthy out-of-state special interests continued to flood Wisconsin with millions of dollars in contributions in 2013 – a trend that began a few years earlier with unprecedented recall elections that drew national attention from big-money donors.

Large individual out-of-state contributions to legislative and statewide officeholders and candidates in 2013 totaled $4.11 million. That’s not a record for an odd-number, non-election year but that’s what’s telling and alarming about the 2013 total. Out-of-state contributions for 2013 were only about $51,000 lower than the record $4.16 million set for an odd-numbered year in 2011 yet the two years couldn’t be more different:

2011 featured nine state Senate recall races in which the targeted incumbents could accept unlimited individual and political action committee contributions for months before the election date was set. The elections determined whether the Republicans would continue to control the Senate, as well as the Assembly and the governor’s office, and move their policy and spending agenda forward at will. In addition, it was already known Governor Scott Walker and other state senators would face recall in 2012, prompting them to ramp up their fundraising activities early. The state’s recalls and the state-versus-labor union fight drew national attention from media and moneyed interests for most of the year ;

In contrast, 2013 featured relatively quiet spring races for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and state school superintendent with heavily favored incumbents, and four special elections for Assembly seats safely held by Republicans who hold a substantial 60-39 Assembly majority.

A record $17.2 million in out-of-state contributions flowed to Wisconsin legislative and statewide candidates in 2012.

Before 2011, annual out-of-state fundraising fluctuated, ranging from $301,403 to $2.03 million a year between 2003 and 2010. Total large individual out-of-state contributions were under $1 million in five of those eight years (see Bar Chart below).

The figures suggest large amounts of out-of-state contributions to Wisconsin legislative and statewide candidates will become a trend because of the harsh partisan divide between special interests whose contributions fund Republicans and Democrats, and federal court decisions that have unleashed secret spending by outside groups and removed aggregate limits on individual campaign contributions to candidates.

The most recent, significant ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court prompted Wisconsin to drop its $10,000 limit on total individual contributions to all state and legislative candidates, parties and political committees in a year. A Democracy Campaign review found millionaire and billionaire contributors – both inside and outside the state – will be able to dump more than 600 times the old annual limit – $6 million plus – into Wisconsin state and local elections.

As was the case in 2011 and 2012 because of the recall elections, Republican Governor Scott Walker was the largest recipient of out-of-state campaign cash in 2013. Walker received $3.73 million in large individual out-of-state contributions in 2013 – 91 percent of the total $4.11 million to all Wisconsin candidates, and 53 percent of the $7.06 million in total large individual contributions he raised that year.

After Walker other top recipients of large individual out-of-state contributions in 2013 (Table 1) were his likely Democratic opponent this fall, Mary Burke, at $159,784 and conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Pat Roggensack who won reelection in 2013 to a second, 10-year term on the bench at $44,095.

Table 1
Top* 2013 Out-of-State Large Individual Contributions

Name

Party

Office

Amount

Walker, Scott

R

G

$3,726,041

Burke, Mary

D

G

$159,784

Roggensack, Pat

NP

SC

$44,095

Kleefisch, Rebecca

R

LG

$27,600

Van Hollen, JB

R

AG

$26,161

Republican Assembly Campaign Committee

R

A

$12,200

Fitzgerald, Scott

R

S13

$12,125

Committee to Elect a Republican Senate

R

S

$11,975

* Table shows recipients of $10,000 or more in out-of-state large individual contributions in 2013

By interest group, out-of-state contributors identified in candidate reports as retirees or homemakers led with $1.19 million in large individual contributions to Wisconsin candidates in 2013 (Table 2) followed by banking and financial industry executives who doled out $553,639. The interest group for more than a third of a million dollars in out-of-state contributions is unknown because the employer or occupation of the donor was not reported or could not be determined.

Numerous out-of-state donors contribute to Wisconsin candidates to preserve and expand the state’s controversial school voucher program. Those wealthy contributors span business, manufacturing and several other traditional special interest categories but individuals tied to the school voucher issues through their public statements and support of the programs in Wisconsin and elsewhere contributed $171,290 to state candidates in 2013.

Accepting the lion’s share of campaign cash from school voucher supporters was Republican Governor Scott Walker at $94,500 and Roggensack at $37,750. In addition to direct contributions, many of these same rich backers of school vouchers have paid for a barrage of negative broadcast ads, mailings and other electioneering activities sponsored by the Washington D.C.-based American Federation for Children which has spent an estimated $4.4 million since 2010, including $110,002 in three Assembly special elections in 2013, in Wisconsin elections.

Table 2
2013 Out-of-State Large Individual Contributions By Interest Group

Special Interest

Amount

Retired/Homemakers/Non-income earners

$1,194,398

Banking & Finance

$553,639

Unknown

$371,822

Manufacturing & Distributing

$249,439

Construction

$234,677

Business

$218,562

Natural Resources

$174,783

Real Estate

$147,413

Tourism/Leisure/Entertainment

$146,159

Health Services/Institutions

$141,806

Transportation

$132,927

Lawyers/Law Firms/Lobbyists

$100,419

Health Professionals

$68,001

Political/Ideological

$63,985

Insurance

$59,125

Agriculture

$53,040

Education

$45,147

Non-Profit/Social Services

$40,724

Energy

$33,885

Telecommunications & Computers

$30,783

Road Construction

$28,000

Civil servant/public employee

$12,782

Defense

$5,677

Labor Unions

$113

TOTAL

$4,107,306

A billionaire school voucher backer from Michigan topped the list of the more than 8,100 individuals and couples from outside the state who contributed between $100 and $43,300 to Wisconsin candidates in 2013. One-hundred twenty-four individuals or couples doled out $10,000 or more and 29 wealthy outsiders gave $20,000 or more to Wisconsin candidates (Table 3).

Dick DeVos, son of Amway Corporation founder Richard DeVos, and his wife Betsy of Grand Rapids, Michigan contributed $43,300 in 2013 to Wisconsin legislative and statewide candidates. DeVos was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for Michigan governor in 2006 and his wife Betsy is one of the leaders of the American Federation for Children and its predecessor All Children Matter. The couple created

Alticor, the parent company of Amway and its subsidiaries, and Windquest Group, an investment management firm. Walker and Roggensack received most of the couple’s contributions – $20,000 each.

Behind the DeVoses were Rufus and Patricia Lumry of Bellevue, Washington who contributed $24,000 in 2013 – all to Walker. Rufus Lumry founded Acorn Ventures, an early stage investment fund. Lumry and his wife are long-time backers of mostly state and federal Republican candidates and committees.

Rounding out the top three out-of-state donors were Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein of Lake Forest, Illinois and founders of U-Line, a distributor of shipping and packaging supplies throughout North America. The Uihleins have been major backers of Republican state and federal candidates and committees and conservative groups and causes for decades. The couple contributed $22,000 to Wisconsin candidates in 2013, including $15,000 to Walker and $5,000 to Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is working for a real democracy that allows the common good to prevail over narrow interests. We track the money in state politics and fight for campaign finance and other democracy reforms. WDC is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and charitable contributions supporting our work are fully tax deductible when you itemize.